Sunday, December 7, 2008

News: Gen. Eric K. Shinseki, A Japanese Am. was chosen as the Veterans Affairs Secretary. As the Army Chief of Staff, he told Rumsefeld the truth -- needing more boots on the ground in Iraq -- & earned Rumsfeld's wrath. Had he been listened to, the Iraq war and our nation would most likely have fared better.

Question: Is having an Asian Am. Cabinet Secretary important?

Answer: Before 2000, YES. Then, we wanted the historic first Asian Am. secretary for its symbolic significance. After 2001, NO! We are way beyond wanting a token Asian Am. Cabinet Secretary now.

In 2000, Norm Mineta made history by being the first Asian Am. Cabinet Secretary under Pres. Clinton. President Bush invited 2 Asian Ams into his cabinet. Mineta made us proud. He insisted on no racial profiling in airport checks during those emotional days following 9/11. At the end he proved to the nation the worth of his judgment.

Elaine Chao was a different story.

She taught us that having an Asian Am. cabinet secretary does NOT necessarily benefit our community.

A: In 2001, 80-20 approached Sec. Elaine Chao about the apparent non-enforcement of the Exec. Order 11246 for Asian Ams. Her Labor Dept. was explicitly charged by Exec. Order 11246 to secure equal opportunity in workplaces for ALL Americans. She used various excuse to avoid discussion.

In 2005, 80-20 presented irrefutable data, shown at the end of this email that had been read into the Congressional Record by Sen. Tom Carper of Delaware. It showed that

"Asian Ams have the least opportunity to enter management and the slowest rate of progress towards equal employment opportunity, despite having the highesteducational attainment."

She still refused to enforce the law although it was her duty as the Labor Secretary*.

Q: Could Sec. Chao be right and 80-20 be wrong?

A: NO. She could have held a public hearing to examine the merits of 80-20's request. Note that 16 Democratic presidential candidates including John Kerry & Joe Lieberman in 2004 and Barack Obama & Joe Biden in 2008 have agreed to this 80-20 request.

Her Deputy Sec. Steve Law sent comments intended to refute the our argument. Instead, when 80-20 researched to verify their validity, we found facts diametrically opposed to the comments. Why the Labor Dept. didn't seek the validity of its own comments before sending them to 80-20 was a puzzle. It seemed to suggest an unprofessional way the department was run.

Q: How do we ensure that the lesson learned will benefit us with the Obama Administration?

A: Ever since Obama's victory, 80-20 has worked hard to ensure that we have qualified Asian Am candidates who will share our community's rightful concerns. President-elect Obama's Transition Team has been most helpful.

Remember the past! Don't worship Asian Ams with impressive government titles. Such worshipping betrays a servile and feudal mentality. Respect them only if they serve the nation and our community well. Otherwise reject them.

Respectfully yours,

S. B. WooPresident, 80-20 Educational Foundation.

* 80-20 seriously considered suing Sec. Chao. We instead decided to go through the political process with presidential candidates which would be less time and money consuming.

Thursday, December 4, 2008

In 3 days, the list of Asian Ams jurists expressing interest to be appointed an Article 3, life-tenured Federal District or Circuit Court judge already includes

2 supreme court justices of large states, a Law School Dean, a General Counsel & a Chief Legal officer of Fortune 500 companies, a Deputy Mayor of a large city, a Managing Partner of a law firm, many distinguished law professors, and many prominent lawyers.

The above is only the beginning of a FABULOUS talent bank of qualified Asian Am. jurists in every Federal judicial district, and of course every circuit of the appeals courts is forming.

Apologists used to say that the lack of Asian AmericanFederal judges (Only 7 out of 875) was due to the lack of interest by Asian American jurists.

With your help, 80-20 is proving the apologists wrong.

In the past, Asian Ams might not have applied for such positions, because they know that good jobs are usually NOT available to them regardless of their qualifications.

With your help, 80-20 has given all Asian Ams the courage and the backing to fight for equal opportunity.

Cynics still say don't trust President-electObama. See Q4 to Q6 of President-elect Obama's commitments at the end of this email.

With your help, 80-20 trusts President-elect Obama & shall deliver.

Forward this email to your friends in legal professions. Ask them to send their resumes to President@80-20EducationalFoundation.org. Hurry! Don't miss out. TOGETHER, we can help make America "a more perfect Union."

Monday, December 1, 2008

80-20 Educational Foundation announced today to set up a Talent Bank of qualified Asian Ams to serve as Article 3, life-tenured federal District or Circuit court judges. Interested individuals may send their resumes to sbwEF@80-20.us. Forward this e-newsletter to your lawyer friends please.

Such a talent bank becomes necessary, because President-elect Obama has promised 80-20 Educational Foundation (EF) "to make it a top priority to nominate qualified Asian Americans to serve as Article III life-tenured District and Circuit Court federal judges,whenever such vacancies are available." Wouldn't it be a shame if the President is ready to appoint, but qualified Asian Ams couldn't be found? (See Q4 to Q6 of the commitment, at the end of this email)

About 50 vacancies already exist. Although the Transition Team (TT) is currently focused on filling cabinet and sub-cabinet positions, it will turn its attention to filling the vacant judicial positions. So hurry. Don't be left out.

The list of talents will be confidential with the EF. When needed, the list will be shared with the Transition Team or the White House.

The top leadership of the TT has committed that 80-20 will be "kept in the loop" regarding the nomination of the Federal judges. In addition, "We would very much like the input of 80-20 on qualified Asian Americans" regarding appointments.

80-20 has accomplished many tasks for our community which were considered by cynics as "impossible." So don't miss out this time. If you know Asian Am. lawyers seemingly qualified to be nominated as Article 3 Federal judges, pass this e-newsletter to them.

Finally, to do this job right, 80-20 continues to welcome the opportunity to work with national and/or state and/or local Asian Am. Bar Associations. Please contact sbw@udel.edu.

One of the commitments made by President-elect Obama is that "Two years upon my taking the office, I shall meet with a group of Asian American leaders, put together jointly by 80-20 and other Asian American national organizations to review the progress in adding Asian American Federal judges."